Truth Or Dare
by Juleeroze
Summary: Captain Gregg and Mrs. Muir investigate the disappearance of one of Candy's classmates. Can they find the girl before Candy becomes the prime suspect?
1. Chapter 1

**Truth or Dare**

by Julie Feldman

_This is the second sequel to "Touch and Go" and came about during the online GAMM discussion of the Kellie Flanagan Briley's favorite episode of the series, __**"Puppy Love"**__ when I noted that it was the only episode that really focused on her character, Candy. After that I began thinking of some ways to involve Candy more in my stories, and this is what developed._

_If you haven't read "Touch and Go", I urge you to check it out because it will make it easier to understand some of the relationships in this story._

_As usual, I have no rights to the characters of The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, and I make no money from this story._

**Friday, December 13, 1974**

Penelope Hassenhammer was dressed and heading out the door unusually early on this cold morning. Before she could slip out the door, her mother called out to her from upstairs.

"Penny, why are you leaving for the bus so early? It's barely light out and it started to snow a few minutes ago."

"Oh," Penelope called over her shoulder, "Candy Muir asked me to meet her early to discuss something she said was important." She shuffled her book bag, purse and a small traveling case into a more comfortable position. "Have a great day, Mom. I'll see you later!"

It was indeed cold and snowy on the lane toward the middle of Schooner Bay where the bus to Rockland High would pick up the village kids. Still, Penelope was glad of the fresh air and the silence. Things weren't so comfortable at home these days. Her parents fighting had increased and all through the autumn, her father's business trips seemed to last longer and longer. After he came back from the last one two weeks ago, he and his wife separated and now he was renting a one-bedroom cottage in Pripet. Penelope didn't think she would get to see any more of him than she did before, but she wouldn't let that get her down. She was just going to keep on putting one foot in front of the other like she always had.

The morning routine had changed for Carolyn Muir and Daniel Gregg. She had finally gotten the heavy plaster cast off of her right arm a few weeks before, the last reminder of her nearly fatal accident in October. Now, after breakfast, she and the Captain had a standing appointment for some therapeutic exercises in the Master Cabin before they both got to work. For her it was stretching and strengthening her arm and for him it was working on increasing the amount of energy he could expend while in a corporeal state. They usually started with the Captain massaging her arm and shoulder to warm the muscles, followed by her pushing and pulling his arm while he resisted her attempts. They often ended the session throwing a light rubber ball back and forth. As a reward for a successful therapy session, they would often sit on the old leather couch near the fireplace and exchange sweet kisses until they both reminded themselves that there was work to be attended to. Carolyn was working on some nautically-themed Christmas stories for several magazines at once, and Daniel was continuing to produce his sea charts for sale. With the holiday season he and Jonathan had come up with the idea to produce some key chains with a scrap of sea chart (false starts and errors that he would have otherwise thrown away) lacquered onto a small block of wood. Candy had suggested lacquering a decoupage of pieces of charts onto some lunch boxes as well. Daniel had been experimenting with both intaglio and wood block printing and had plenty of small scraps of paper for these projects. That coming Sunday afternoon, the annual Christmas Fair would be held in the church basement and he and the children would be selling their items. The Captain spent the rest of his time finishing and tagging these small items. If they did well at the Fair, he would be able to put some money away to pay for professional lithography of his charts and start to repay Carolyn's small business loan.

By the afternoon, the snow had stopped, and the sun had peaked out from behind the clouds for a few hours, but when Candy and Jonathan got home to Gull Cottage from school, it was nearly dusk. They entered from the back entrance with much stamping of boots and loud voices. Now that the children were older, Martha's afternoon snack had changed from cookies and milk to fruits and vegetables and hot chocolate in the cold weather or lemonade when it was warmer. Their mother came down from the Master Cabin and Daniel came up from the basement where he had set up his "print shop" to spend a few minutes with them and catch up on the day's events. Jonathan in particular was yearning for the Christmas break from school. Being a high school freshman was a big change for him, especially not having a recess anymore where he could let off a little energy. Mrs. Muir was glad that he had his sister with him to help him adjust this year, but Candy was also ready for some time off. In fact, as she went up to her room, she mentioned that her English class had been assigned to write an essay over the holiday break and she was not at all happy about it. The adults could hear some dropping of books and slamming of the closet door as the girl vented her anger.

"What's gotten into her? She usually quite even-tempered," the Captain noted, turning to Carolyn and Martha.

The housekeeper shrugged her shoulders. "Schoolwork during a vacation will do that to you."

The ghostly mariner pulled at his jacket lapels and rocked on his feet. "Why, in my day, it was a privilege to be able to still be in school at her age. It meant that your family had enough money not to need their children to go to work. A little essay? Balderdash!" He turned to Carolyn and pointed a finger at her. "You should not molly-coddle her!"

She only laughed. "Daniel, I hardly think she is being 'molly-coddled'. After all, she is a straight 'A' student, is on the Dean's List, is captain of the girls' softball team, on the debate team _and_ is politically involved. All that and she's only 15. She's still dealing with teenaged hormones and she was hoping to spend time over vacation with her friends – especially one young man."

"Hmmmpf!" the Captain snorted. "She's too young to be spending time with young men. And that Hamilton boy is, is…not worthy of her!" Again he waived his finger in Carolyn's face. "I remember very well what a boy of that age is thinking!"

"Well, whatever he may be thinking," interrupted Martha, "I have dinner to make. So if you wouldn't mind vacating my kitchen, I can get to work. Otherwise, you'll be having 'air soup' and 'surprise imaginary meatloaf' with 'not-there potatoes' for dinner."

As Carolyn and Captain Gregg exited the kitchen, the phone rang. Carolyn answered, and her brows quickly knit with concern. Daniel looked at her questioningly as he listened to her side of the conversation.

"No, Mrs. Hassenhammer, Penelope's not here. No, Candy didn't say anything about her when she and Jonathan came home. Of course! No, no, I'll call you immediately if she shows up here. Yes. Goodbye." She hung up the phone, looking both curious and concerned as she looked up at the Captain. "Apparently Penelope Hassenhammer didn't come home from school." She turned and called up the stairs for her daughter.

Candy looked more relaxed when she came down the stairs. "Just like a teen," her mother thought. "A little temper squall and she's put her upset over the essay away."

"What is it, Mom?"

"That was Penelope's mother on the phone. She hasn't gotten back home yet."

Candy stopped on her way down the stairs and her face went white. "Oh no! She wasn't at school today. I think you'd better call Mrs. Hassenhammer back and tell her."


	2. Chapter 2

**Truth or Dare**

**Friday, December 13, 1974: Evening**

Candy and Jonathan were clearing the dinner dishes off of the kitchen table when there was a knock at the door. Carolyn ran to open it, to find Ed Peavey there on the porch, brushing snow off the shoulders of his jacket.

"Good evening, Ed. Come on in. It sure is cold outside. You go sit with Martha in the parlor. Daniel and I will take care of cleaning up the kitchen."

"Thank you, Mrs. Muir, but I'm not here on a social call, unfortunately. I'm here about the disappearance of Penelope Hassenhammer. I need to ask your daughter some questions."

"She hasn't been found yet? Her mother must be crazed with worry!"

"Aye-uh. Please call Candy. You and the Captain should come, too."

Carolyn looked at the Constable for a moment and then nodded her head. In less than a minute the four of them were in the parlor. She looked at Daniel and then looked at Candy. Why would Ed want to interview her? She knew that the teen knew nothing about the disappearance, but she had a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach.

"Ed, are you going around to all of Penelope's classmates?" asked Captain Gregg.

"Some. But I particularly need to ask Candy some questions. Did you arrange to meet Penelope early this morning before the school bus?"

"No." The girl looked surprised.

"You didn't have something to discuss with her before the other kids got to the bus stop?"

"No. I really don't talk much with Penelope."

"Have you had any words with her since the beginning of the school year?"

Mrs. Muir interrupted. "Ed, she just said she didn't talk much with the girl. What's going on? Is Candy being accused of something?"

"I'm just investigating the disappearance."

"But why are you asking these questions?" the Captain asked.

"I'm sorry, but I'm not at liberty to say yet," replied the Constable. He picked up his cap and stood to go. "I may need to ask more questions of you tomorrow, Candy. Please don't leave town."

After Mr. Peavey let himself out, Candy and the two adults sat in stunned silence. Suddenly the girl started shaking. "He can't believe that _I_ had something to do with the disappearance? I don't hate Penelope anymore; that was childishness. We just have different friends and interests and we don't hang out at the same places now. I can't even think of the last time I said anything more than hello to her."

"And why would anyone think that you agreed to meet her early in the morning. You and Jonathan left the house together at the usual time," her mother said. She looked over at the Captain again. "Do you think I should call…"

"Mom! You don't think they'll arrest me, do you?" Candy started to cry, and Carolyn put her arm around her shoulders. Daniel jumped up and started pacing.

"This is outrageous! Why in heaven's name would anyone think that you had any interested in Penelope Hassenhammer disappearing! By the Powers! Something is afoot here, and I mean to get to the bottom of it." There was fire in the ghost's eyes.

"Wait a minute," Carolyn put out a hand to stop whatever Daniel had in mind. He was having none of it, however. He sat down on the other side of Candy and also wrapped an arm around her thin shoulders, but his eyes still flashed in anger as he looked at her mother. "No one will touch _my_ little girl!"

"Stop," said Carolyn forcefully. "We're getting way ahead of ourselves here. We only know two things for sure; Penelope is missing, and someone thinks that she and Candy agreed to meet early this morning, but that definitely did not happen".

"Well, who would think that we agreed to meet?" Candy asked plaintively.

"I would imagine she told her mother that when she needed to leave the house earlier than normal," Carolyn said. "Now, that could open up a lot of possibilities."

"I think you may be on to something, my dear," replied Daniel. "Perhaps we should call on Mrs. Hassenhammer in the morning?"

"Uh, Dad? Wouldn't that be interfering with an official investigation? It's bad enough that Mr. Peavey is asking me all these questions. I don't want you or Mom to get into trouble, too". Candy squared her shoulders and stood up. "I think I should go upstairs and write down everything I remember about this morning, and any time I spoke with Penelope since the beginning of school this year".

Carolyn stood as well. "That's not a bad idea. Who knows? You may remember an important detail that could help find her."

After the teenager mounted the stairs, her mother sat down next to the Captain, sighed and rubbed her eyes. After a moment, she looked up at Daniel. "I'm sure this is a nightmare for the Hassenhammers. I don't know what I'd do if it were Candy who went missing. So I'm very sympathetic to them, but I can't imagine why Margot Hassenhammer thinks the two girls arranged to meet."

"Obviously, madam, Penelope told her about the supposed rendezvous. The real question then becomes, why did the girl give her that information?"

Jonathan and the Captain were in the basement later in the evening, wrapping and packing the items to be sold at the Christmas Fair and they were discussing the earlier events when they heard the phone ring. Martha answered it and called out to Mrs. Muir to come to the phone to speak with Claymore Gregg. Daniel couldn't imagine what his so-called nephew could want this late in the evening. That ill-fed minnow only spent the money on a telephone call if there was a profit to be made by the call. He left the boy momentarily and popped into the Master Cabin to find Carolyn on the phone extension by her desk. She looked perplexed.

"Thank you, Claymore. How did you find out about the investigation?" She covered the phone's mouthpiece for a moment and whispered to the Captain, "He wants to help Candy."

Daniel looked astounded. "What?! That so-called graduate of a mail-order law course? How could he possibly help?"

"Shhhh!" she said, and then talking quickly into the phone, "No, not you Claymore. I was talking to the Captain." Again she put her hand over the telephone and whispered, "He says the story is all over town."

"Blast!" It thundered a bit.

She continued to speak to Claymore and ignored her ghost. "Well, no one has accused her of anything. Don't you think it's a little early to bring a lawyer into this?" She listened for a moment. "Yes, of course I understand how important it is for us to know what the investigation is uncovering if it seems to have anything to do with Candy, but I think that it will show the opposite instead."

Daniel came back to the desk facing her, palms flat on the wood surface as he watched her face intently.

"Yes, yes, that's true Claymore, but until there's a formal accusation….Alright. Yes, come by then tomorrow, after lunch. _For_ lunch? OK, then. Come over at noon. We can listen to your suggestions then. And thank you again, Claymore." She hung up the phone and shook her head, a wry look on her face.

"And what could that slimy barnacle have to offer?" the seaman asked.

"Well despite everything, he does have a few ideas that bear listening to".

It thundered again and with it a strong gale came up as well.


	3. Chapter 3

**Truth or Dare**

**Saturday, December 14, 1974:**

The next morning the Captain was massaging Carolyn's right shoulder. Her tension was evident in the tightness of her muscles. Dark smudges lay under her green eyes. He noticed that she sighed frequently and was squeezing her eyes shut, as if to keep out the memories of last night.

"Carolyn," he said softly, "if I'd known how badly you would feel this morning, I would have made sure that you slept soundly. I know you're worried, but I have every expectation that Penelope will be found and ultimately prove Candy to be uninvolved in her disappearance."

"How can you be so sure, Daniel?"

He came around to sit on the edge of the desk, facing her. "There's a lot that has been amiss in the Hassenhammer house for some time. Her parents have separated, and under the best of circumstances, Margot Hassenhammer does not seem like the kind of warm, supportive mother you are, my dear. Don't you think it might be likely that Penelope is trying to get some attention? Don't you think that the timing of this whole thing, right before Christmas is a little telling?"

Carolyn sucked in a deep breath between her teeth and looked up at the man, err, ghost she had agreed to marry. "You may be right, but then again we can't discount the possibility that someone abducted her." She briefly squeezed her eyes shut, painfully imagining it was her daughter who was gone. "It's been known to happen, just not in Schooner Bay."

"Would you be surprised if I told you that for a short period of time, white slavers _were_ active in this village?" He stood and pulled at his lapels as he paced back and forth. Normally Carolyn wouldn't want to hear one of his sea tales at a time like this, but the story was too unbelievable not to listen to. He continued. "It was 1859. There was a saloon where Norrie's Lobster House is now. In the cellar a tunnel had been dug that led through a cave to the small cove south of the main bay. I wouldn't be surprised if remnants of it still exist. On two occasions young women walking alone at night were grabbed and pulled down into the cellar. Later, a bottle chloroform was found there. The brigands anesthetized the women and carried them out through the tunnel to a rowboat that brought them to their vessel. This all happened just as I was returning from a voyage and before I dismissed my crew we headed out of port again and found the slavers' boat. We had a right smart battle with them, but they were a smaller ship and we pressed our advantage and boarded her. After tying up those miserable excuses for humanity, we found six young women, all chloroformed and unconscious below decks. They'd been shuttling up and down the coast under the cover of night and would eventually have met up with a larger vessel to off-load their 'cargo'. The women, and possibly young boys and small children, would have eventually ended up in some bawdy house in a far distant port city." Carolyn's stomach began to turn at the thought. "So yes, it has happened in Schooner Bay, but fortunately not for a very, very long time. I intend to keep it that way. Why do you think I am on the Widow's Walk most nights? I can see the whole town from up there and indeed, I have chased a few shady characters out of the vicinity over the past hundred years."

She looked at him in absolute surprise. "I had no idea! I thought we were safe here because it was such a small, out of the way place. I never imagined that you really needed to protect us, but I thank you now, from the bottom of my heart."

The Captain bowed gallantly in front of her. "You are welcome. My darling Carolyn, I would never allow your security to be endangered. On the rare occasions that I have not been able to personally conduct my watch, I have engaged one of my spectral associates as my substitute. As long as you, the children and Martha reside under my roof, I will guarantee your safety."

Mrs. Muir pondered that for a moment before asking, "If someone is always on watch, why didn't you see what happened to Penelope?"

Daniel Gregg had maintained his corporeal form after the aborted morning therapy session, and therefore, his blush was quite evident. "Ah, yes. Once the household begins to wake up, I end my lookout. I'm afraid that I was not up there to see her leave her house. I am sincerely sorry." With that, he hung his head.

After breakfast, the Captain and the children loaded Carolyn's station wagon with the items for the Christmas Fair and went to set up their table in the church's basement. While they were there, it seemed the only thing that anyone talked about was the missing girl. Quite a few of Candy's classmates were there and they all gathered around her. It was now common knowledge that she had been questioned the night before. The only others that had been interviewed, were Sharon Carpenter and Jill Angelo, Penelope's closest friends. And no one had heard or seen anything that might be a clue to the girl's whereabouts.

"What about any adults that might have seen her in town yesterday morning? Who would be up that early?" asked Jill.

"Well, Mr. Greenough, the milkman," answered one of the boys.

"And the baker, Mrs. Dennis, although she probably was busy in the back of her store making the breads by that time," hypothesized Sharon.

"But," said Jill, looking over at Candy, "Penelope did tell me that Candy was jealous of her and was making things difficult for her."

"She never said anything like that to me," replied Sharon.

"And I did no such thing!" said Candy, hotly.

Captain Gregg walked over to the group, having overheard them. "Did Penelope have any friends from outside of Schooner Bay? Classmates from one of the other towns who might have picked her up on the way to Rockland?"

The knot of teenagers mumbled and shook their heads for a few moments before Jill exclaimed, "Wait! What about Scotty?"

"Who's Scotty?" asked Candy.

"Scotty graduated from school last spring and after that, he came to town to see Penelope once or twice," Jill replied. "She thought he was really dreamy and gorgeous, but then she suddenly stopped talking about him." Sharon nodded in agreement.

"What else do you know about him?" asked the sea captain.

Sharon sighed. "I don't know anything beyond that. Do you Jill?"

"No, dammit! I don't even know his last name."

The Captain was about to tell the girl that "dammit" wasn't an appropriate thing for a female to say, particularly in the church basement, but had to admit to himself that it was indeed, a "damned" situation.

Martha made a large green salad and an even larger pot of macaroni and cheese. Jonathan was getting to that age where no matter how much he ate it was never enough. And he was growing so fast now that it seemed like his pants were perpetually above his ankles. Already he stood as tall as Martha and his mother and likely would be as tall as the Captain in just a few years' time.

Carolyn was setting the table when the Captain and the children tumbled into the house. She couldn't understand heads or tails of what they were saying to her and then Claymore arrived to add to all the noise.

"We have another lead to Penelope's disappearance," began Candy.

"Well, not exactly a lead, but at least something new," continued Jonathan.

Their mother looked expectantly at Captain Gregg next. "What's the information?"

"Penelope's friends, Jill and Sharon," he started, only to be interrupted by a gleeful Candy. "Penelope's _best_ friends!" the girl announced.

"Yes," the Captain continued, dryly, "her _best_ friends remembered that there was a boy who was interested in her at the beginning of the summer."

Claymore chimed in. "Oh, really? Now that is interesting. Does Ed Peavey know about this? It could be very, _very _material to the case!"

Martha ushered everyone into the kitchen, and they all sat down to lunch. It was still unnerving for Claymore to see his "cousin" eating, but then again, he'd spent so many years fainting, being terrorized and utterly frightened by the ghost of Daniel Gregg, that "unnerved" was a relatively benign state of being for him. He cleared his throat after swallowing a bite of the delicious macaroni and cheese, and then began to speak.

"I wanted to discuss the legal situation here. Although I never took the bar exam, I am a graduate of a law course."

"A mail-order law course!" growled the Captain.

"Still," Carolyn said, putting her hand gently on Daniel's arm, "let's hear what Claymore has to say. I'm sure it will be food for thought."

"Probably marshmallow," the sea captain thought to himself.

Claymore ignored the repartee and began. "Although Candy hasn't been charged with anything, I think we should assume that at the moment she is the prime suspect in Penelope Hassenhammer's disappearance. Therefore, we should also assume that anything she says, 'can and will be used against her'. So of course, it's important not to say anything of substance, especially without a lawyer present." He preened and giggled slightly. It's also important to find out as much as we can about what Peavey has found out, if anything. We need to be on top of every development."

"When, Claymore, did this become 'we'?" asked the Captain, none too graciously.

"I'm merely offering my assistance, Uncle Daniel," Claymore answered with a surprising amount of strength. "After all, you are engaged to Mrs. Muir, so that essentially makes us all family."

"Well, then leave me out of it, Claymore!" insisted Martha. "I've got enough of my own odd cousins and whatnot on my own without adding you to it."

If he was fazed by what he said, their former landlord didn't show it. "What else do you know about this 'Scotty" person?"

"Nothing at the moment," replied the Captain.

"But if he graduated last June," interrupted Jonathan, "then he's in the yearbook and there would be an address for his family at the school.

Carolyn looked at Daniel. "We could go over to the library in Rockland and look at the yearbook on Monday and get some information on whoever this boy is."

"Sounds like a reasonable plan, m'Dear," responded Daniel.

"You know, I just thought of something," interrupted Candy. "I know in grade school, Penelope used to keep a diary. I wonder if she still does? It could give us a lot of solid information."

"You are sooo smart, Candy!" Claymore nodded in the girl's direction.

"The only question, Claymore, is how to find out if there is a diary, and if there is, how to get Mrs. Hassenhammer to let us look at it," a frustrated Carolyn asked.


	4. Chapter 4

**Truth or Dare**

**Sunday, December 15, 1974:**

The next morning the Muir family and Daniel Gregg headed off to church as they had been doing for the last month or so. Daniel hadn't been much for attended services when he was alive, but anything that involved his family now held his intense interest. Besides, he had so much to be thankful for. And after he died, become part of the spectral fraternity and met some of the Masters, he knew without a doubt, that there was definitely something beyond the earthly plain of existence. So he was more than happy to sit in church with Carolyn and the children between them, a family in all but name.

After the service they headed downstairs to the Christmas Fair. Candy and Jonathan alternated staying at the table with the Captain. Sales of their small items and Candy's lunch boxes were gratifyingly good and generated a lot of interest in Daniel's nautical chart art. Carolyn wandered around looking at all the items for sale and picked up a few items for the Christmas stockings and for the tree. There was a raffle for dinner for two at Norrie's on New Year's eve and she eagerly bought several tickets. Deke had some carved angel tree-toppers and other wooden ornaments for sale and Ed Peavey had found some time to create tree bases and wreath hangers. Mrs. Post had holiday tree skirts and other embroidered items on display for sale, Mr. Mulligan had set up a wonderful Christmas railroad diorama with his H-O scale locomotives and Reverend Farley's wife had lovely homemade evergreen wreaths at an excellent price. Carolyn thought a fragrant evergreen wreath would be perfect for the front door and reserved one to take home after the fair was over.

Norrie had snacks and sandwiches for sale, and it was a good thing, too, because soon enough Candy, Jonathan and the other teens were ravenous. The men made no pretense of not being hungry, and while the women all said they didn't want a whole sandwich, that didn't seem to stop them from filling up on Norrie's generously filled lobster rolls. At 2:00 on the dot, the Schooner Bay Carolers, under Claymore's direction, began to sing all the old favorites and added a few new ones as well. The singing continued for 45 minutes, by which time the Fair was starting to wrap up. While Daniel and the children were packing up what was left on their table (and there wasn't too much, in all honesty), Carolyn took one last walk around the hall. She was looking to see if there were any "end of Fair" markdowns when she bumped into Margot Hassenhammer. Penelope's mother hadn't been at church and Mrs. Muir hadn't seen her earlier in the social hall. They were both quite surprised at coming upon each other in this setting, and for a moment, neither knew what to say. Finally, Carolyn took the plunge.

"Mrs. Hassenhammer, I want you to know how concerned we all are about Penelope."

"Thank you, Mrs. Muir," she replied quietly.

"If, I may, Mrs. Hassenhammer, yesterday Jill and Sharon were talking about a boy named 'Scotty'. They didn't know very much about him. Did Penelope ever mention anything about him to you?"

Margot Hassenhammer sighed deeply. "Yes. During the summer he was all she talked about, but my, ah, her father and I told her that he was much too old for her and that she was forbidden from seeing him again. Of course Penelope is an obedient girl and she dropped him immediately and I didn't hear anything about him again."

Mrs. Muir was skeptical about that. She couldn't imagine any young teenaged girl giving up a crush without at least a minimum of arguing and crying. Whatever was going on, Penelope had held it close to her chest. "I see. Do you know Scotty's last name?"

"No. All I knew about him was that he was 18. Far too old for my daughter."

"Yes. I would have felt the same way if it were Candy. By the way, did Penelope keep a diary? Candy thought she used to. It might have some useful information."

"Yes. I found it the Friday night when it became clear that she disappeared and that is how I found out how much your daughter and mine were arguing!" Margot Hassenhammer almost sounded triumphant.

Carolyn was confused. "She wrote that she and Candy were arguing? Candy told me that they really didn't speak anymore. She said it wasn't a matter of not liking each other, just that they were in different groups and only saw each other on the school bus."

Haughtily, the other woman replied, "That's not what she told me. Every week or so, they would have words, usually in the Girl's Lavatory at school when no one was around. When I found the diary, I saw that there was even more to the arguments than Penelope had let on." Mrs. Hassenhammer was starting to get angry and her face was flushed. "Apparently, your Candy was not happy playing second fiddle to my Penelope and went out of her way to make her miserable. According to the diary, Candy threw out Penelope's clothes during gym once, ruined an art project she was working on, and started several sordid rumors about Penelope's morals!"

It was nearly impossible for Mrs. Muir to maintain her composure, but she knew that if she didn't, she'd never get to see that diary. "If what you say is true, I need to have a very, very serious discussion with my daughter. Would you mind showing me the diary?"

"I'm not…not sure." In reality, she was at a loss. This was the last thing that Margot Hassenhammer expected Carolyn Muir to say. "Call me tomorrow. I will let you know then." She turned away, flinging her scarf over her shoulder and left. Carolyn hadn't realized that she was holding her breath until she gasped for air. Daniel came up behind her and put a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

"What was all that about, Dear?" he asked.

"Perhaps a small Christmas miracle? With a bit of luck, I might get to read the diary that Penelope _did_ keep, in which she claims that Candy was picking fights with her and bullying her."

** "**Well, that's absolutely ridiculous!" the Captain said with a rumble of thunder in his voice.

"Yes, I know that, and you know that, but it's unlikely that the rest of the town totally believes that."

That evening the last of the children's homework was finished, showers were taken, and bags were packed for the next day's school. Martha had the kitchen shining and Carolyn finished the last button Jonathan needed reattached to his shirt. Daniel appeared next to the fireplace in the parlor and knocked down what was left of the embers before turning to his fiancé.

"It's time to go upstairs, dearest. I have a feeling that tomorrow will be busy day."

Yawning, Carolyn stood. "_Today_ was quite the day! By the way, how much did you and the children make?"

"We did well. We profited $120, including what I paid Candy for doing the decoupage on the lunch boxes. Now I hope that you are not too tired to share some affection?"

She curled her arm through his, stood on her tiptoes and gave his lips a soft kiss. "I'm never too tired for that. Give me a few minutes to shower and I'll see you in our cabin."

Daniel smiled as he watched her mount the stairs to the upper floor. He disappeared for a moment to obtain a spectral friend to take his night watch duties for him. His young ghostly friend, 'Boomer' who had helped with his investigation of Carolyn's hit and run driver answered the call. The young ghost had grown up on the beaches of California, surfing and working on his hotrod. When he became acquainted with Schooner Bay, he appreciated the seaside town and was more than happy to help keep it safe that watch, because Daniel did not intend to leave his love's side that night.

She was a vision when she stood at the door to their cabin, dressed in a light yellow nightgown. It was too shear for the cold December night, but Daniel realized that she knew exactly what he had been thinking. With the light from the hallway outlining her form, the gauze of the gown concealed nothing. The logs in the fireplace increased the intensity of the fire and heat at his silent command as she entered the room and his embrace.

"Carolyn," he whispered. "I am finally ready to love you completely. Are you ready for me?" She could feel his growing ardor against her, straining to be released. "Yes, my Daniel. In honesty, I've been ready from the beginning." He smiled and leaned down to claim a deep, lingering kiss. When they separated, he brought her to the leather couch near the fire. "I don't want you to get cold, my beloved," he whispered in her ear. "Oh, I don't think I'll be cold at all tonight," she replied as she pushed his jacket off his shoulders and began to pull his sweater out of his pants. He looked at her in surprise at her eagerness. "Am I too forward?" she asked coyly. "My dear, there are somethings about the females of your century that I quite like!" he replied and bent to nibble at her shoulders. Carolyn ran her hands up his back as she leaned her head back, offering her neck to him. Before long, they had removed all the clothing that came between them, touching and exploring each other, finally.


	5. Chapter 5

**Truth or Dare**

**Monday, December 16, 1974:**

They woke the next morning spooned together, Daniel's left arm under her neck and curled under her breasts, his right arm over her torso and his hand gently holding hers. His head was lying gently against her cheek and as they awoke, his eyelashes gently tickled her. Carolyn looked at the clock; it was only 5:10, and still quite dark which meant they could enjoy more time together.

"Good morning, my dearest," Daniel whispered as he rolled over her and lifted himself on his forearms. "Did you sleep well?"

She laughed. "Yes, very well. And did you…sleep?" She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him down for a kiss.

"Yes. I slept. Dammit woman! You exhausted me!" His laughter started at his eyes.

"Well, then perhaps I shouldn't tempt you right now. After all, we have things to do today and the day will start soon enough."

"You vixen! You know I can't resist you and that there is plenty of time." And with that they buried themselves in their private sea of blankets and sailed in the warm waters of love.

After Candy and Jonathan left for the school bus, Carolyn, Daniel and Martha sat down at the kitchen table for another cup of coffee and to discuss how to proceed with what had suddenly become a private investigation. Martha was the first one to speak.

"Why don't you tell Ed what you found out, Captain? After all, it is his job as constable to be running the investigation."

"You are absolutely right, Martha. However, my first concern is Candy. It's important that we get to see Penelope's diary before it's held as evidence. Once it's impounded, it will be quite a long time before we will have access to it," stated Daniel in a reasonable manner.

"And while I know that we are at risk of being charged with interfering with an investigation," Mrs. Muir added, "Ed knows that the Captain was instrumental in finding my hit-and-run driver, and I think he'll give us leeway on our efforts if we leave the final steps up to him."

"And I suppose your 'special abilities' are in play here too, Captain?" asked the housekeeper with a knowing look. Daniel merely smiled and nodded.

Mrs. Muir stood to refill her coffee cup, but before she could get to the stove, the phone rang. Picking up the receiver, she looked surprised. She turned to the other two in the kitchen so that they could hear her end of the conversation.

"Mrs. Hassenhammer! I'm surprised to hear from you so early this morning. Uh huh," she nodded her head as she listened to the other woman, "Yes, I suppose I wouldn't be able to sleep either under the same circumstances. Yes, yes. I understand. Of course, but would I be able to take some notes? Thank you, that's very understanding of you. When would you like us to come over? Yes the two of us; I'd like to bring Daniel Gregg with me. We've become engaged…oh you did hear! Thank you, your thoughts are much appreciated. Yes, and Daniel has rapidly become very involved in the children's lives," Carolyn blushed a bit and then shook her head, realizing that Margot Hassenhammer didn't need to be reminded how uninvolved her soon-to-be ex-husband was in their daughter's life. "So in about an hour? That's perfect. And thank you again, Mrs. Hassenhammer."

Carolyn hung up the phone with a long sigh and Daniel stood and moved toward her. "I take it she agreed to let us look at the diary?" She nodded her assent.

"She just didn't want copies made. She was afraid that they might become public, and of course a teen-aged girl's diary can have some very, very personal items in it. But she is willing to let us write out pertinent parts and make notes."

"Well, then," Martha said acerbically, "you'd best take a lot of paper and many pencils. I'm sure that diary and Margot Hassenhammer's statements will be very interesting."

Turning to Carolyn, the Captain said, "I would have suggested going into Rockland to see if we could look at last year's high school yearbook and perhaps speak to someone at the school, but I think that can wait a day. I would imagine that we will be spending a few hours at the Hassenhammer's house."

Carolyn drove up to Penelope's house with Daniel in the passenger seat. She had experienced his driving several times already and had quickly concluded that neither she nor her old station wagon would be able to survive his joy in speed.

After ringing the doorbell, it was a few moments before Margot Hassenhammer answered the door.

"Please excuse me for a moment. I have someone on the phone. Please make yourself comfortable in the living room. I'll be with you shortly," she announce, pointing to the formal room. Mrs. Muir and the Captain made themselves comfortable on one of the overstuffed couches. At first all they could hear from the other room was murmuring, but in a few moments, Margot's voice became louder and impossible not to hear.

"No, I really think you need to be here to help, Stewart. No, I'm not just sitting around wringing my hands! Honestly, don't you know there is an investigation going on? And even if _nothing_ was happening, don't you think we should be together while _our_ daughter is missing? Aren't you the least bit worried about her? Um hum? Well then, you ought to be here, not in the office! Alright, alright. Call later and we'll talk again. Goodbye, Stewart."

Carolyn looked in Daniel's direction, rather embarrassed for the other woman. What a terrible situation to be in: a daughter missing and a spouse who was having difficulty putting aside his rancor in order to create a united front. She couldn't imagine Daniel behaving in such a way, but her late husband Robert, now that was a different story altogether. Likely in similar circumstances, he would have reacted in a similar manner to Stewart Hasssenhammer. What a pity that more men couldn't have the insight and strength of character that Daniel Gregg did. He understood completely that expressing his feelings and supporting those around him didn't make him seem 'weak'. Indeed, it was perhaps his greatest strength, so when Penelope's mother entered the living room, Carolyn gave her a sympathetic smile.

However, Margot was not going to admit to any problems, especially not in front of these two people who were obviously in love. She went to a side table and opened a small drawer. Inside was a black and white school notebook. The title on the cover was simply, "Penelope's Diary".

"Here it is. As I explained on the phone to Mrs. Muir earlier, I don't want it to leave the house unless it is required as part of the formal investigation, and I don't want other parts of it copied, just the parts that pertain to this 'Scotty' boy and to the incidents between your daughter and Penelope."

"Of course. We understand completely and thank you for allowing us this access at such a difficult time," said the Captain, with his most ingratiating manner and deepest smile. "If you wouldn't mind, could Carolyn and I sit at a table to read the book and make our notes?" Margot sighed inwardly. How could Carolyn Muir be so lucky to find such a handsome and sympathetic man? One who looked at you and made you feel that you were the most special woman in the world?.

A few hours later the Captain and Carolyn were back at Gull Cottage in what was now truly "their" cabin. But love-making wasn't on their minds at the moment. They were reviewing Penelope's entries and their notes on the diary.

"My dear," he began after trying to interpret what she had written, "you may be a talented writer, but your penmanship leaves a little something to be desired." He held out a piece of paper, pointing at a word she had scribbled on it. "Does this say, 'Scotty gave me a perfect kiss' or 'Scotty was a potential sissy'?" She began to laugh but as she took the paper, she had to admit to herself that it was hard to read what she had written. After a moment of staring, the words rearranged themselves for her and she read, "Scotty is perfection." She looked at Daniel quizzically. "Should I go on?"

"Is there anymore there besides the love-sick mooing of a fifteen-year-old girl?"

"The only thing that I see that's important is that this first entry about Scotty is dated July 10th. Oh, and that he met her at the luncheonette for ice cream because a friend of a friend of a friend of Penelope's set it up. It seems pretty benign if you ask me. She was there with Jill and Sharon and some other kids, they had the ice cream, exchanged phone numbers and agreed to meet at the same place a few evenings later."

"What about the supposed episodes with Candy?"

"Well, this volume of her diary started in March and the first time Candy's name appears is the second week of school in September, so that seems odd." she said.

"And what happened in September?" asked Daniel.

"Penelope wrote that Candy got into an argument with her because Candy was jealous of her over Scotty."

The Captain stopped to look at Carolyn. "But Margot said very clearly that in August Penelope was ordered to stop seeing the boy, and she did so."

"That's what I thought," replied Carolyn. "And then there's this from just after Columbus Day; Penelope wrote that Candy lured her into the girls lavatory, pulled her sweater over her head and then pushed her out the door just as classes were changing, so everyone saw Penelope in her bra. The only thing is, I seem to remember Candy having a stomach bug and taking her to the doctor on that day. Please hand me my check book, would you please, Daniel?" He did and she flipped through a few pages in the check register. "A hah! I was right! On the day that Penelope claims Candy did this to her, I brought her to Dr. Flannery's office. Then we went to the pharmacy to get her medicine, and we went home, and she rested for the rest of the day."

"So it would seem that you are not the only creative writer in Schooner Bay, my dearest."

"No, it appears not, Daniel. But the question still remains, 'why?'"

The Captain stood and wandered around the room a bit before picking up the day's newspaper from the desk.

"It seems that tomorrow is forecast to be fair and dry, if cold. I would say it will be a perfect day for a drive to Rockland, don't you think my dear?"


	6. Chapter 6

**Truth or Dare**

**Tuesday, December 17, 1974:**

For once the weatherman's prediction was accurate. The next day was dry and there were no clouds in sight. The Captain insisted on taking the wheel of the station wagon, while Carolyn gritted her teeth. The trees were winter-bare and there was plenty of snow banked up on the side of the roads as they made their way to Rockland.

As cities went, it was pretty small, but compared to Schooner Bay, it was a large, bustling place. After all these years in Maine, Carolyn still found herself amazed at how easily she had adjusted to small town life after growing up in cosmopolitan Philadelphia. Even Rockland seemed noisily disturbing to her.

The town library was much larger than the one at home. It occupied half a city block and was two stories tall, plus the basement stacks which weren't accessible to the public. If Captain Gregg was discomfited by the size of the place, he didn't show it, but Mrs. Muir realized that she thought of the place as a large edifice. They approached the main information desk to inquire about the most recent edition of the Rockland High School Yearbook. The young librarian at the desk pointed them to the Reference Room, where they easily spotted 45 years- worth of Rockland Ranger's Yearbooks.

"I should drag out my high school yearbook for you to look at," she whispered to the Captain. "I think you will get a kick out of my senior photo."

"I'm sure you were just as beautiful then as you are now, m'dear," he whispered back.

"If you think upper and lower braces are beauty enhancers, then yes. Unfortunately, they didn't come off until _after_ the graduating class pictures were taken."

Daniel was about to say something, but Carolyn grabbed him and pulled him over to the shelves. The latest yearbook hadn't seen much, if any wear yet and still smelled faintly of the printer's ink as she opened it. Since they didn't have a last name to attach to "Scotty", they had to go through the entire senior class.

The first "Scott" they came to was Scott Alcott, and he seemed like an unlikely candidate for the object of Penelope Hassenhammer's affections. He seemed to be physically underdeveloped, wore his hair in a crewcut, had glasses with heavy, dark frames and (wonder of wonders) a pocket protector in his shirt pocket. His ambition was to be a chemical engineer, he was a member of the National Honor Society, the Math Team, the Debate Team and he had obtained early admission to Rutgers University. He had been the class Valedictorian.

They didn't find another "Scott" until they got to the M's; Scott Miller was as opposite to Scott Alcott as you could get. Although the pictures in the yearbook were in gray-scale, it was obvious that this young man was light-haired and had a very athletic build. In fact he had been on both the baseball and football varsity teams and included bowling and target shooting among his extracurricular activities. His ambition was the vague, "to make my family and my country proud" and he didn't indicate that he was going to continue his education.

Carolyn and Daniel finished looking through the yearbook but didn't find any other "Scottys". It was only mid-morning, so they decided to go over to the high school building to see if they could get any further information on Messrs. Alcott and Miller.

The solid brick building was warm, despite the huge double-hung windows, some of which dripped with condensation from the temperature difference inside and out. As they walked down the hallway to the school's main office, Candy rounded the corner, a cardboard box in her arms.

"Mom! Dad! What are you doing here? Is everything alright?"

"Everything is fine. We're just doing a little investigating, is all," the Captain answered. "But what are you doing out of class?"

"I'm assigned as an assistant in the office three times a week. Its part of the requirements for the Honor Society, remember?" she said as she balanced the box in one arm and opened the door with the other.

"Ah, yes," Daniel murmured. "I remember now." Turning to Carolyn he whispered, "I still think it's more to get free labor than to teach the children anything." She merely winked back.

Candy, however, was relishing the moment. "Mrs. Temple, I'd like to introduce my mother and her fiancé to you," Turning, she indicated her mother first, "Mrs. Carolyn Muir and Mr. Daniel Gregg." The older woman, who was obviously the school's secretary, left her desk and approached the couple. She noticed that Candy had many of her mother's features and that Mr. Gregg was a very handsome man, not necessarily in that order. She extended her hand and greeted the couple.

"It's so nice to meet Candace's family! And to what do we owe the honor of your visit?"

The Captain began, giving the woman his most sincere look. "I'm sure that you know about the disappearance of Penelope Hassenhammer?"

"Oh, yes. We are all very upset about it."

"Well," Daniel continued, "Mrs. Muir and I have been following some information that we stumbled across, and we were wondering if the school might be able to assist in tying up some loose ends?"

Just then an inner door opened to the office and a gentleman who could have had a career playing Santa Claus, came out. Like the Christmas elf, he was pleasantly rotund, had an unruly mop of wavy white hair, glasses perched on the end of his nose and pink cheeks in his smiling face. "Did I hear you say that this was Candace's family, Mrs. Temple?" Splendid, splendid! She's a lovely girl, wonderful student, a child to be proud of!"

Candy blushed and again made the introduction of Mr. Charles, the school principal to the Captain and her mother. "My folks are following Penelope's disappearance closely, and they need some information from the school," she explained.

The principal's expression changed to one of deep concern. "Oh, dear. Such a dreadful thing! It's hard to imagine something like that happening here. I think we all felt that outside of Bangor and Portland, things hadn't changed all that much here in Maine, but obviously that's no longer true, is it?" All the occupants nodded their heads and murmured about the loss of innocence their community was experiencing. "Please, won't you come into my office? I'd like to be of any help I can." Mr. Charles ushered the couple into the inner sanctum of the Principal's Office.

"What information is it that you are looking for?" he asked.

This time Carolyn took the lead. "First of all, I want you to understand that we are involving ourselves unofficially. The reason is that there have been implications that Candy is somehow involved in Penelope's disappearance."

"I can't believe that for a moment," Mr. Charles stated emphatically. "Unlike Miss Hassenhammer, there isn't an ounce of guile in your daughter."

"Thank you," Carolyn replied gratefully. It was good for her to know that someone like Mr. Charles, who had an unbiased opinion felt the same way. "Mrs. Hassenhammer allowed us to read the most recent volume of Penelope's diary. She mentioned going out a few times over the summer with a recent graduate of the school, who she referred to as 'Scotty'. We've just come from the library after reviewing the June graduating class's yearbook."

"Yes. And you found that we had two Scotts in the last class."

"Indeed," answered Daniel. "What can you tell us about these young men?"

"Well," Mr. Charles took his pipe and filled the bowl with tobacco, lit it and then leaned back a bit in his desk chair. The chair squeaked a bit while the pipe filled the air with it's aroma. "It is highly unlikely that Scott Alcott was Penelope's 'paramour'. He was an excellent student, which I'm sure you realized from the yearbook. However, he had no interest in anything except his studies and I'm honestly not quite sure that he noticed the, ah, 'enticements' of the young women in the school. He also had skipped several grades before arriving here, so he was younger than most of his class. I actually wonder if he had experience puberty before graduating." Daniel nodded. He had noticed Scott Alcott's size and his soft, roundish face and had compared it to Jonathan, who looked significantly more physically developed and already had the beginnings of a boyish mustache.

The principal continued. "Add to that, Rutgers accepted him into their pre-freshman summer program. As I understand it, he was in New Jersey by July 6th. Not much time for a summer romance, especially for a teen who wasn't old enough to drive." Carolyn was rapidly taking notes as Mr. Charles continued. "Now Scott Miller is another story altogether. He's a nice boy, I don't want you to think otherwise, but to put it plainly, he was a jock. And he was very popular with the girls in school as well. I could absolutely see him dating Penelope Hassenhammer, or at least wanting to. I'm not sure what she would see in him though. The Miller family are simple folk. Thomas and Sylvia have four children; Anna, who works in an office in Portland and got married this spring, then Scott and then there are the twins, Matthew and Eric, who are 11. They live in Camden and Thomas works in the town's cannery and got Scott a job there as well. That's not the kind of background of a boy the Hassenhammer's would approve of, I would imagine."

"No, I don't think so either," Carolyn replied. "The diary records two dates, and after that there's no further mention of Scotty at all. Penelope's mother told us that when they found out that she was dating someone who was so much older than she was, they told her to stop seeing him and she complied without any objections."

"Not a typical teenaged girl's behavior, in my opinion," the Captain added, leaning forward for emphasis.

"No, certainly not, and most certainly _not_ Miss Hassenhammer's typical behavior. Her teachers and I found her to be very decided about her wants and needs last year, and it was not easy to get her to compromise once she had set her heart on something." Mr. Charles puffed on his pipe again. "Is there anything else I can answer for you?"

Carolyn gave the principal a warm smile as she and Daniel stood. "No, thank you. You've been very helpful. It was a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Charles."

"The pleasure was mine, Mrs. Muir, Mr. Gregg. I look forward to the day that your Candace graduates as Valedictorian or Salutatorian."

"As do we," Daniel answered as the girl's mother blushed.

Outside in the cold again, Carolyn insisted on getting behind the wheel of the station wagon. "I suppose a trip to Camden is on the itinerary?" she asked

"Yes, but not today, my dear heart. After all, we need to get an address for the Miller family and for the cannery. In my day there were several in the town. I wonder how many there are now? Perhaps we should go back to the library?"

Carolyn shook her head. "No need. The phone book at home will give us that information."

That evening after dinner, Carolyn was picking up laundry in the children's bedrooms. On Jonathan's desk she noticed his biology textbook and opened it up. During _her_ school days, she had not liked the sciences much but had good grades none the less. Looking at the text, she chided herself for not remembering more as she glanced at the Table of Contents. She stopped at the chapter devoted to DNA. She remembered that Watson and Crick's depiction of the DNA molecule had occurred while she was still in high school, but it was too soon to make its way into her biology class. Now she stood reading the chapter, fascinated, (if a little lost with the details), of how it was believed the molecule influenced the heritable material of sperm and egg. Suddenly she stopped reading as a chill went through her. There were more than a few questions to be asked and answered.

The Captain was aghast. His large blue eyes were nearly falling out of his head as he stared at her. She was a modern woman, he knew, but this was something that was beyond all he could tolerate.

"Do I make _WHAT_?"

"I said," Carolyn repeated calmly, "do you know if, now that you have the ability to be corporeal, you create sperm?"

He stepped back, as if she were attempted to throw a net over him. Amazingly, his face went from bright red to white and then to red again. "Madam! That is a most inappropriate, intimate and unfeminine question and I won't answer it! Women in my day wouldn't even know what the word meant." He literally sputtered. "You are being most indelicate!"

She followed him as he attempted to retreat to the binnacle and his telescope. "If we don't know about this 'indelicate' issue, we might find ourselves _with_ an issue…one that comes with a pink or blue blanket!" He spun around to face her, and looked down at her, scowling. "You do know how babies are made, don't you?" she asked.

"By the Powers, Madam!" He retreated from her again, and just as steadfastly, she followed him. "I will _not_ discuss this any further." Carolyn got in front of him, one hand grasping his lapel and the other on the footboard of the bed. "Then you will _not_ have a place in my bed unless we use some form of birth control. Do you understand what I am saying?" She stopped for a moment, asking herself what she really _was_ saying. Rather than risk him popping out of their cabin, she continued on in a more confused manner. "I'm not saying I wouldn't want to have a child with you…but I'm getting older…and there's enough gossip in this town…and we have Candy and Jonathan to raise…and, and…blast it, Daniel! Life is strange enough as is without the possibility of an infant that's half ghost!"

He looked down at her, his temper cooling rapidly. He began to understand this unexpected implication, and her concern. "I must admit that your question gave me a start, knocked me off my sea legs, as it were."

"And I admit I could have asked you in a less direct way," she responded.

"But, my dearest, you are correct. It is a question that must be answered before we can be intimate again. And if we can indeed have a child, we will have to come to joint decision." He pulled her into his arms and stroked her soft hair while she relaxed into the strength of his chest. "I didn't want a child during my lifetime anymore than I wanted to be tied down to a wife. But just as I didn't know what your presence would bring to me, I never imagined how wonderful being a father to your children could be. When we shared our Christmas dream so many years ago now, something moved inside of my as I watched you lay little "Slugger" into my old cradle." Daniel lifted Carolyn's chin so that he could look into her deeply green eyes. "I think… perhaps at the appropriate time…of course your health would be my first concern…but…"

His look of longing and of love almost broke Carolyn's heart. Could they have a child? Should they? She'd just celebrated her 41st birthday and knew what the consequences of having a child at that age could be. But could she deny Daniel his heart's desire?

"Let's get the answer to this question before we ask any more, Darling."


	7. Chapter 7

**Truth or Dare**

**Wednesday, December 18, 1974:**

Daniel Gregg was sipping on his rapidly cooling coffee and wiping up the yolk of his over-easy eggs while Jonathan and Candy finished their breakfasts before walking into town to the school bus to Rockland.

"So Dad, are you going to go looking for this guy in Camden?" asked his son.

"Yeah, now that you have an idea what he looks like from the yearbook, it should be easy to find him," added Candy.

The Captain stroked the beard on his chin. He had been wondering most of the night about the best way to approach the young man. It wouldn't do to stride up to him and ask him, 'Have you abducted young Miss Penelope Hassenhammer?'

Mrs. Muir entered the kitchen and headed directly for the coffee cup. Once fortified with a sip of the bitter black liquid, she looked at her crew. Candy had on eyeliner and some very light lipstick that somehow seemed to go extremely well with her royal blue turtleneck cable knit dress. Jonathan's hair, now shading to a light brown, was longer than she preferred but it was his hair after all, and long hair was not a fatal disease, last she looked. She also noticed the dirty smudge a pubescent mustache on his upper lip. Was it too early to talk about shaving? She'd have to ask Daniel later. Of course, in the house, the Captain always looked the same; the gray turtleneck sweater and navy-blue pea coat, the waves and curls of his hair stubbornly uncontrollable.

Martha put a plate of toast and some scrambled eggs on the table before asking Mrs. Muir about the day's plans. "So are you going to go over to Camden today?"

Carolyn looked at Daniel and he looked back, each at a loss for how to proceed. Finally, the Captain answered the room at large.

"I think it best that we do not rush up there just yet."

"But Daddy! It's been five days since Penelope's been seen," cried Candy. "There hasn't been anything from the state police since Mr. Peavey turned the investigation over to them and I'm worried that it's becoming too late to find her alive." A tear trickled down from the corner of the teen's eye.

The Captain put his arm around her shoulders. "Don't worry my little dear one. No one is going to come here and accuse you of any part in her disappearance, I promise you."

Candy shook her head. "I'm not so much worried about me as about Penelope. I can't even imagine how frightened she must be….if she's, well if she's still alive."

"Now that's no way to think," Martha stated in her stout, forthright manner. She turned to their ghost. "Would you have any way to know if something has happened to Penelope? If she were dead, I mean?"

"No, I'm afraid not, Martha. I have no connection to the girl, hardly even know her from the other girls her age who aren't close with Candy. Now," he said looking around at all the faces of his family, "it would be a different matter if it were one of you. I always know where you all are and could be by your side instantly if need be," He thought of the day of Carolyn's nearly deadly accident. "We are all bound together by strong bonds of love."

In a few minutes, the teens were wrapped up in their heaviest coats and out the door for the two mile walk into town and the bus. The adults rearranged themselves around the kitchen table with coffee cups refilled.

"So how _are_ you going to approach this young man?" Martha asked.

Daniel sighed. "If he had anything to do with this, having some strange adults start questioning him will only cause him to run." Carolyn nodded her agreement.

"Do you think that having Candy or Jill and Sharon look him up might be helpful? Martha asked.

This time Carolyn answered, sitting up straighter in her chair. "If Scotty Miller is in any way responsible for Penelope's disappearance, I wouldn't want Candy or any of the other girls to come in contact with him. Although Mr. Charles said yesterday that he wasn't a bad sort of kid, we just don't know who or what we're dealing with."

The Captain slammed his palm on the table, startling the two women. "That's it!"

"What?" Carolyn and Martha asked simultaneously.

"It's obvious!" he replied. "Neither we adults nor Penelope's girlfriends can approach him. But a male his own age, that would indeed work!" He rubbed his hands together gleefully.

"Not Jonathan!" Carolyn began to become very concerned.

"Of course not, Madam. He's too young, and besides, this requires a young man who is old enough to seek out Scotty and share a glass or two of beer with him. And I have just the candidate. Do you remember a few weeks ago when my spectral acquaintances and I were in the last phase of tracking down your hit and run driver, and I had a young man from California come over and keep Jonathan occupied?"

"Yesssss?" responded Carolyn. "Is he one of your…?"

"Friends from the fraternity?" finished Daniel. "Yes. He's rather a newcomer, still learning to navigate our plain of existence. Still a bit clumsy, but not like Seaman Appleby, I must assure you. He was only 18 when he died less than 25 years ago, so he did not attain the maturity of thought of a seasoned adult. But he is a smart lad and stout-hearted. He will be perfect for this assignment." The Captain stood up and bowed slightly to the women. "I must go speak to him. I shan't be long." And with that, he "popped" out of Gull Cottage.

That evening Boomer, the young ghost from southern California materialized behind a rather straggly pine bush near Camden's waterfront. Despite being a spirit and a warmly dressed one at that, he hated the cold northern weather. He hunched his shoulders and stuck his gloved hands in his coat pockets as he carefully made his way over the icy ground to look for the warmth of a neighborhood tavern. Boomer had grown up on the seashore by his home, but it never smelled like this. The two old canneries left in town smelled of dead fish offal and the droppings of the seagulls that continuously circled overhead. He knew that more and more canning and freezing of fish were being done on great trawlers that consolidated the process of fishing and preserving the catch all on one vessel. The old canneries on land were either being demolished or were turning into fertilizer factories using the fish bones and other fish parts. The odor was eye-wateringly indescribable.

Captain Gregg had been able to convey his memory of Scott Miller's senior portrait to Boomer, so he knew who he was looking for. Assuming he would stop for a drink with his father and the other men he worked with, Boomer would be able to meet him casually. If he went straight home, then matters would be more difficult.

There was an old, old tavern across the cobble-stoned street from the canneries. The light spilling through its windows was warm and inviting and it was an obvious place for the factory workers to stop for a glass of ale to quench their thirst. Not surprisingly, it was crowded in the early evening gloom which made it a bit more difficult for Boomer to see everyone. While he waited for his beer he noticed a partition behind him. Every few moments he would hear a "thwack!" from the other side of it. Picking up the cold drink the bartender laid in front of him, he peaked around the room divider. There was a dart board and even though he could only see the back of the sandy-haired young man's head, he knew immediately that it was Scotty Miller.

"Hey, you're pretty good with those darts!" he offered as way of greeting.

Scotty laughed. "I like throwing things; baseballs, footballs, that sort of stuff, but darts will do pretty well, too. Want a little contest?"

"Sure, why not?" Boomer answered. He put down his beer and took the projectiles that Scotty had pulled off of the dartboard. His efforts weren't nearly as good as Scotty's had been, so he just shrugged his shoulders. "I'm not in your league. I'm more into surfing and basketball."

"Surfing? Wow, that's neat man. Where are you from? By the way, my name's Scott."

"Call me Boomer. I'm from Southern California."

"So what are you doing all the way down east in the armpit of Maine?"

"I convinced my folks to let me wander around the country for a year before I started college. When I want to go somewhere, I hitchhike and check out wherever I end up."

Scotty whistled in appreciation. "Wish I could have done something like that, but once I graduated high school I had to get a job. So where will you go to college."

"UCLA. I don't know what I want to major in yet. Maybe in my travels I'll figure it out."

"Hey, the Bruins! Great team. Not as good as Notre Dame, but then, who is?"

Boomer agreed. "Yeah they're really good, but don't count out my Bruins."

"So how long are you gonna be in Camden? Need a place to sleep?" Scotty asked.

Boomer shrugged his shoulders uncommittedly. "I don't know. I usually move on when I get bored with a place, and I only got here about an hour ago. I did find a place to unroll my sleeping bag, but thanks for the offer. I wouldn't want to put you out."

"Well, it's not like my girl and I live in a giant apartment, but it's warm and has running water."

"You living with someone? Cool," the young ghost smiled.

"Yeah, we just moved in together. Penny's still adjusting, though, otherwise I'd invite you for dinner."

"Penny. Nice name."

Scotty laughed. "It's really 'Penelope', but that's so old-fashioned. She hates to be called that."

Boomer laughed as well. "Yeah, I could understand that. Hey, why don't we meet up here tomorrow night and the three of us can go get pizza for dinner?"

The other young man smiled broadly. "That'd be great! Penny would really like to get out of the apartment. She's not from here and doesn't know anybody yet. I haven't even introduced her to my family, and if I don't show up this Sunday for dinner, my mom's gonna kill me, so it's gonna be something, you can bet." Scotty drained the rest of his beer glass. "I'd better be heading home to Penny anyway. See you tomorrow, then!"

They both headed out into the cold night. Scotty turned left once they got to the sidewalk and Boomer turned right. In a moment when he was alone, he "popped" away to Gull Cottage.


	8. Chapter 8

**Truth or Dare**

**Thursday, December 19, 1974:**

The next evening Boomer was waiting outside the old tavern. He wondered if Scotty had brought Penelope into the bar's interior. Knowing that the girl was less than 16 years old, he assumed that her presence would attract more than a little notice and the plan was to do everything quietly with the least amount of noise possible. He thought he'd wait a few minutes before entering the establishment, hoping that his new friend had given any thought to the situation.

The young ghost's wait was rewarded just a few minutes later when Scotty and Penelope walked into view. Scotty had his hand protectively around the girl's shoulders and while she walked with her head down and not talking, she didn't seem afraid of him or looking for a way to make an escape. Boomer waved at them and walked over to meet them.

"Hey Boomer. I want you to meet my girl. This is Penny. Penny, this is my new friend from California that I told you about last night."

She looked up at Boomer. Her eyes were sad, and he thought he saw dark rings under them in the light of the dim streetlamp. "I don't know about you guys," he said, "but I'm starving!"

"Then let's get going. The pizza place is back this way," Scotty pointed over his shoulder. With him on one side of Penelope and Boomer on the other, they three young people walked a couple of blocks down the street facing the canneries before turning left. They had only walked a few yards past the corner into the quiet and dimly lit street when Ed Peavey and Daniel Gregg stepped out of the shadows.

"Penelope Hassenhammer," Ed began quietly, "your folks are besides themselves with worry." Then he looked over to Scotty. "And you, Mr. Miller are in a heap of trouble."

Boomer quietly pulled Penelope to the side and she burst into tears. Daniel approached Scotty and put a hand on his arm. The young man was strong and for a moment the Captain wondered if he would be able to subdue him, if it came to that, without using ghostly powers.

Ed continued, just as quietly as he began. "Penelope, are you hurt?" She merely nodded, "No." "Did Scotty kidnap you or force you to go with him?"

This time she looked up and spoke through her tears. "No, we planned this together. My mother didn't want me seeing him, but I thought I loved him. We worked on this for months, setting it up so that it would look like Candy Muir was the cause of my disappearance." She looked over at Daniel. "I'm sorry about that, Mr. Gregg. Candy wasn't involved at all." She took a deep, shuddering sigh as she tried to control her tears. "I thought that it would be easy to be with Scotty and everything would be perfect because we were together, but it's _not_. I have to stay in the house all day long and there's only the bed and the kitchen table, not even a radio. And I don't know how to cook, and I have to wash everything in the sink because Scotty doesn't want me going to the laundromat because people will start to ask questions and I'm too young and we couldn't even try to get married until I turn sixteen in February, and…" Ed held up his hand to stop her torrent of words.

"I'm sorry Penelope. I have to ask you this; did you and Scotty, uh, did you…?  
"NO! Scotty was a perfect gentleman! He let me sleep in the bed and he slept on the floor, in the kitchen."

"Would you swear to that in a court of law?  
"Of course, Mr. Peavey.  
"Alright, then. What do you want to do?"

"I want to go home! To my mother!"

"Okay." Ed turned to Scotty. "I'm Constable Peavey, but my jurisdiction is in Schooner Bay. I can't arrest you here, but if Penelope is telling the truth, we can come to some 'arrangement' as it were if you come back with us voluntarily".

Scotty looked like all the wind had been knocked out his sails. He quietly agreed, and the five of them settled themselves in the Constable's car for the trip to Schooner Bay.

The next day was the last day before the start of the Christmas vacation, and the high school dismissed classes at 2:00. By the time the Muir teens got home, everything had been quietly wrapped up the Penelope and Scotty. Much as Mrs. Hassenhammer wanted to see him charged with kidnapping and statutory rape, Penelope insisted that she had left with him voluntarily and that she was still a virgin. While Ed and Claymore, as constable and town magistrate, could have forced the girl to be examined by a doctor, they decided that they would take her at her word. No charges were filed, Scotty was given fare money to get back to Camden and Penelope and her mother were advised to have a deep and honest discussion about family issues.

Before the Hassenhammer women went home, they made a quick detour to Gull Cottage. Carolyn answered the door and was surprised to see them on her porch but quickly invited them in out of the cold.

"Penelope," she began, "I want to tell you how sincerely happy we all are that you are home safe and sound."

"Thank you, Mrs. Muir." The girl couldn't look up. She was both embarrassed and exhausted and her mother had a vice-like grip on her arm as well. Carolyn had the impression that Margot Hassenhammer had buried her embarrassment in her anger at her daughter, which was entirely obvious in her expression. It was hard not to feel at least a little sympathy for Penelope.

Candy and Jonathan had heard the voices of the newcomers in the foyer and came down to see who was visiting.

"Hey, it's Penelope!" Jonathan called out.

Candy stopped on the next to the bottom step of the stairs. She took a breath and then calmly announced, "I'm glad that you are home, Penelope."

The other girl looked up at Candy and then at her mother. With a little nod of her head, Mrs. Hassenhammer let go of her daughter's arm and urged toward the stairs.

"I want to apologize to you for trying to make it seem like you were responsible for my disappearance." Penelope raised her head quickly to gauge Candy's reaction, but then looked at the floor again when the other teen didn't respond. "I mean, I know…I'm sorry. I shouldn't have…"

Candy came down the last two steps. She looked remarkably collected, but her mother knew better. That little crease between her eyes deepened, giving away the effort to remain calm. "You lied about me, Penelope. You made up stories about me being vicious to you, playing tricks and humiliating you, none of which were remotely true. You made it seem as if I was directly responsible for kidnapping you or worse. Do you know that I could have been arrested and jailed? All so that you could have some cover and run away with your boyfriend?"

"I'm sorry, I really am. I didn't think about the consequences, any of them, for you or for me. Please say you'll forgive me!"

"I'm not ready to do that yet. Maybe in time. Right now I want to get back to a normal life. And I really don't want to talk anymore to you right now,"

Margot Hassenhammer seemed to be surprised that her daughter's apology wasn't accepted immediately. Martha, who had been observing everything from the kitchen door stepped forward, with a big smile plastered on her face as she opened the door to the outside.

"Well, thank you for coming. I'm sure that you both are very tired and want to go home to rest now."

With nowhere else to go but out, Mrs. Hassenhammer grabbed Penelope's arm again and yanked her away from the house. "You see," they heard her begin, "not even the Muir's will forgive you…."

That evening, Boomer joined the Captain and his family at the dinner table. He was fascinated by the fact that the Captain could eat and drink and wanted to know more.

"Lad, it took me nearly a century to be able to accomplish this, and I don't know how far I would have gotten if I hadn't developed the ability to become corporeal".

Candy smiled. "And we're so glad that you can be with us at meals, Dad. I mean, it wouldn't really feel like we were a family if we couldn't eat together."

"That's right!" Jonathan echoed.

Daniel Gregg actually blushed a bit. If his first joy was Carolyn's love, his second was being surrounded by his "family". It was a warm moment for everyone, until Daniel noticed that Boomer had taken notice of Candy and was staring at her like a moon-sick calf.

A peal of thunder rocked the house slightly and everyone looked at the Captain. He was looking daggers at the young ghost.

"I don't like how you're looking at my daughter, young man. I know what goes on in a young man's mind when he looks at a female like that…"


End file.
